3 Things You Can Learn from White Hat Hackers

Although some cybersecurity experts question their motives, white hat hackers have proven their worth on many occasions by alerting businesses and organizations of security flaws in their computer networks and providing tools and information to rectify those flaws before malicious hackers could take advantage of them.

Near the end of 2016, for example, a white-hat hacker alerted a subcontractor for the US Department of Defense that a flaw in a data synchronization service that the subcontractor was using could potentially expose the identities and personal information of government employees, including members of special operations teams.

Organizations can improve their own cybersecurity by paying attention to how white hat hackers ply their trade. For the most part, they use software, tricks, and techniques that cybercriminals use, but white hat hackers stop their activities when a flaw is discovered rather than using that flaw to steal information from a corporate network or to freeze that network until a ransom is paid.

One white hat hacker recommends paying attention to the following three matters:

1. Pay as much attention to data, as you do to attempts to break in.

Organizations devote substantial resources to prevent malware from breaking into their networks. Even the best of network protection will not prevent 100% of all inbound hacking attempts, and one small piece of malware can create an opening for tens of thousands of data files to exit the network. Companies that monitor outgoing traffic, as well as incoming traffic to their information systems networks, stand a greater chance of stopping a data breach.

2. Be careful with local administrator passwords.

Strong password protection is critical to prevent hackers from accessing a network. Even if individual users on the network have strong passwords, a weak password from a network administrator can act as a master key in the hands of a hacker to access domain controllers, servers, and every personal computer on a network. In this instance, administrators may wish to use something like a laps tool to make sure that their passwords are as strong as possible.

3. Install patches and security fixes.

Once a white hack hatter discovers a security flaw, developers will issue updates that users can install to close the holes created by those flaws. Cybercriminals rely on an organization’s failure to install known patches and they break into networks through pathways that could have been easily closed if the organization had acted more promptly.

White hat hackers also suggest different methods that organizations can use to do penetration testing on their own networks apart from retaining the services of a white-hat hacker, including regularly employing network scanning and analysis software tools to detect flaws, and simply remaining aware of low-tech social engineering attempts by hackers to get information about passwords and other personal information.

Organizations can follow the advice of white hat hackers, but they can never completely prevent every attempt by a cybercriminal to breach their networks. Network security insurance is the final failsafe measure that organizations can employ to minimize the damage and financial losses that a successful hack might cause.

Where a cybercriminal freezes a network with ransomware, for example, network security insurance can provide funds and resources to help an organization quickly recover its operations and compensate it for its direct losses. If the cybercriminals steal valuable third-party information, network security insurance can also provide reimbursement for liabilities and expenses that an organization incurs to make its customers and clients whole and to pay for monitoring services to assure that their information is not being used improperly.

Companies that provide network security insurance might also provide services like what a white hat hacker would provide by reviewing a client’s network and systems to recommend how to improve overall cybersecurity and to erect greater barriers against attempts to break into those systems or to draw information out of them.